Redundancy

Empire State College awards credit for specific learning only once. Learning from all sources is scrutinized carefully to be certain that the degree program contains no duplicate learning. Similar courses in the same subject at the same level taken at different institutions or through prior learning assessment are considered potentially redundant unless the college has determined that there is no significant overlap.

Evaluator Expertise

The college depends on your expertise to determine that the prior learning you evaluate is not redundant with other learning on the degree program.

Example

Management principles learned in a training program or on the job may involve the same learning as that in a Principles of Management course taken at college.

If the student has courses with similar titles to their prior learning but have different learning outcomes, they need to provide documentation to show that the learning is not redundant.

You may ask the student for more information or address any concerns in the interview.

Determining Redundancy

To determine redundancy, think about the major concepts represented in the learning. If these are the same concepts contained in another study listed on the degree program plan, then there is potential overlap that needs to be investigated.

Redundancy and the Recommendation Report

Your recommendation report must address any possible overlap of topics listed on the degree plan. The degree program plan is linked to the request for prior learning assessment in PLA Planner to provide the context and help you determine if there is significant overlap. (In PLA Planner, see the "View DP" button above the PLA Title on the student’s request.)